Craftside

Tattoo heart and wing art from the Tattoo Coloring Book

Have your thoughts turned to Valentine's Day yet? Well, mine have. I have been crafting up a storm in pink, red and white, and I will be sharing my creations in the coming days. But to kick off the week, I thought I'd share this heart with wings and banner art from the Tattoo Coloring Book: A Fantastic Selection of Exciting Imagery (Arcturus Coloring Book).

 

Download this image and take a few minutes to relax and color it in just like the old days!

More about the coloring book:

Tattoo Coloring Book: A Fantastic Selection of Exciting Imagery (Arcturus Coloring Book)

Stylish outlines of classic tattoo designs are offered in this exciting coloring book.  If you love tattoos and have a creative side that you're not afraid to express, you'll enjoy making these artworks your own using colored pencils.  Each picture will help you to improve your artistic skills and give you a real sense of achievement once you have completed it in colors of your choosing.

And now onto some links from my favorite bloggers:

Whole Home News

How to build a gourd bird house

Quarry SPOON

Recipe for Banana Bread

Body Mind Beauty Health

How to pick the right sleeping bag

Rock Paper Ink

Combining typefaces

Motorbooks

It was a bubble-screened boondoggle-The safest car you probably never heard of

Walter Foster

How to make an impasto photo

 

How to make Valentine heart button covers from the book Everything Goes With Ice Cream

Happy Valentine's Day to all my Craftside cuties! Looking for a super easy and fast embellishment that you can whip up and give away today? Why not try these little felt heart button covers from the book Everything Goes with Ice Cream.

Click on this page from Everything Goes with Ice Cream to learn how to cut felt heart button covers.

More about the Where Women Create series book from Quarry Books:

Everything Goes with Ice Cream:
111 Decadent Treats from Raspberry Sorbet to Cream Cookie Pie Plus Fabulous Handmade Party Ideas

by

Koralee Teichroeb

Everything goes with ice cream - yet we understand that the perfect dessert for all of us is not always a big bowl of ice cream. Not everyone loves ice cream, as hard as it is to believe! Which is why Everything Goes with Ice Cream is the book for all of us. It does, of course, have the easy-to-make homemade ice cream, but it also has 176 pages filled with other ideas for making a summertime snack covered in made-from-scratch sea blue candy sprinkles; s'mores and hot chocolate for winter; or an ooey gooey dessert whose magic ingredient is, of course, chunky chocolate fresh raspberry ice cream. Simple projects fill the pages too, including tiny candles made in tea cups, miniature no-sew cake banners, party pom poms, heart-shaped button covers for a special party blouse, and so many more.

Everything Goes with Ice Cream is filled with cute ideas, a fun layout, and fabulous photography to make you as happy as you are on a summer day with your grammy's fresh peach ice cream pops covered in orange frosting sprinkles!

Baking and creating has always been a part of Koralee Teichroeb’s life. Many childhood hours spent in her Grandma’s kitchen is where it all began. She can usually be found in the kitchen with her camera; her creative side has now discovered the joys of photography. Koralee’s baking and photographs have been found in the pages of Where Women Cook, where she fills her column “Joy Making Days” with yummy treats and ideas to share with those you love. Koralee’s photographs, paired with her little bits of daily wisdom, can be found on her creative blog Bluebird Notes (http://www.bluebirdnotes.blogspot.com), where she shows us that it is the little things in life that really matter. Koralee lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada with her husband, three girls, and a son-in-law who all eagerly taste test her creations.

    

How to use your favorite things to inspire a painting from the book Painted Pages by Sarah Ahearn Bellemare

The concept of using the objects, collectibles and elements you surround yourself with to arrange and inspire a painting is positively brilliant. Read all about creating object arrangements for paintings on this page from Painted Pages: New Ways of Fueling Creativity with Sketchbooks and Mixed Media.

Click on this page to enlarge and read about how to create setups that inspire paintings. This page and pins from my Valentine's Day Crafts board inspired me to make this "LOVE" element collage/quote.

 

The "L" is a right angle ruler

The "O" is a scrap of barbed wire

The "V" is made of 2 darts in a bud vase

The "E" is a vice clamp. I think it is used either for automotive brake-work or for making photo frames, not sure :)

 If you like this art-making exercises, tutorials and prompts and want more, grab yourself a copy of:

Painted Pages:

New Ways of Fueling Creativity with Sketchbooks and Mixed Media

by

Sarah Ahearn Bellemare

This book shows how to use an artist's sketchbook in a new way. Instead of the "classic" idea of an artist sketching in a sketchbook, the author shows how to use sketchbooks as a daily working tool. While they begin as a place to collect ideas and inspirations, readers learn how those collections, scraps, ideas, and doodles can lead directly to, and fuel ideas for future mixed media paintings. Specific how to's, techniques, creative prompts, and project ideas are introduced in each chapter to guide the reader through creating individual works of art which launch from a variety of themes. 

Each chapter includes an interview with well-known artists and bloggers who will share a peek into their sketchbooks and journals and readers will learn how they stay inspired and creative.

This is an inspiring and fresh collection of photographs, ideas, and projects that the reader can use on their own to create their own sketchbooks and mixed media works of art whether they are a seasoned artist or someone just starting out on their creative journey. 

Sarah Ahearn Bellemare is an artist from New England who first began painting as a way to illustrate poetry. Her mixed media paintings are layered with found images, fragments of text from old books, and pieces of vintage maps. These ephemera become the fabric and focus of many of her whimsical paintings.

Sarah has taught art to many students in a variety of settings ranging from art camps to museums, teaching students age 3 to 63. Most recently, Sarah was invited to teach her mixed media techniques at Squam Art Workshops, and is thrilled to be returning for two more sessions in the fall of 2011.

Sarah and her work have been featured in Somerset Studios (March/April 2011), Cloth Paper Scissors magazine (Nov/Dec 2008), Artful Blogging (winter 09/10), Cloth Paper Scissors: Studios (fall 2008), and Memory Makers magazine (spring 2009), as well as on a number of prominent art and design blogs. She regularly exhibits her paintings throughout Northeast in galleries and art fairs, as well as online in her Etsy shop. Sarah can be found making messes in her studio on a daily basis. See what she's up to in art and life by following her blog: http://www.sarahearn.blogspot.com.

   

How to mold caramels from the book The Sweet Book of Candy Making

Just in time for Valentine's Day I thought I'd share this tip from The Sweet Book of Candy Making: From the Simple to the Spectacular-How to Make Caramels, Fudge, Hard Candy, Fondant, Toffee, and More! Here's how to make molding caramels with silicone ice cube trays.

Click on this page from The Sweet Book of Candy Making to enlarge and read about using fun shaped silicone ice cube trays to mold caramels.

More about the sweet Quarry book:

The Sweet Book of Candy Making: From the Simple to the Spectacular-How to Make Caramels, Fudge, Hard Candy, Fondant, Toffee, and More!

by

Elizabeth LaBau

Create your own delicious, gorgeous, and professional-quality candies with The Sweet Book of Candy Making. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned candy maker, you will find mouthwatering recipes and expert tips to inspire you—and satisfy your sweet tooth.

Inside, you'll find:

—Candy-making essentials: all you need to know about equipment, ingredients, and techniques, including step-by-step lessons on pulling taffy, rolling truffles, filling peanut butter cups, and more

—More than 50 recipes for sugar candies, fondant, caramels, toffee, fudge, truffles, chocolates, marshmallows, and fruit and nut candies

—Troubleshooting tips for each type of candy

—How to perfect the classics you love, from English Toffee to Chocolate Fudge to Peanut Brittle

—Try your hand at something new: Pistachio Marzipan Squares, Passion Fruit Marshmallows, Mango-Macadamia Nut Caramels, Lemon Meringue Lollipops, and more

—Decorating techniques to show off your tasty results

Get started in your kitchen with The Sweet Book of Candy Making!

 Elizabeth LaBau is a food writer and confectioner based in Los Angeles, California. She applies her years of experience as a professional pastry chef to bringing a modern touch to the world of old-fashioned candy making. Since 2006, she has been the Guide to Candy at About.com, an online division of the New York Times Company. At http://candy.about.com, she provides fun, creative candy recipes and step-by-step tutorials for the home cook. When she's not playing with sugar in the kitchen, she can be found running the trails around Los Angeles with a piece of candy tucked into her pocket. Visit her online at http://www.elizabethlabau.com, http://www.sugarhero.com, and http://www.runningwithsugars.com.

 

A bit of red and white Valentine love inspiration from the book Design Elements, Color Fundamentals

Valentine's Day is about a month away, and I have to say, I took my Christmas decorations down and up went the Valentines day ones! Here is a bit of red and white heart inspiration from the book Design Elements, Color Fundamentals: A Graphic Style Manual for Understanding How Color Affects Design to get you in the Valentine crafting mood too.

I like how this heart looks like it could be hinged, or like a puzzle. Both cool ideas for a heart.

If you like learning about color and getting inspired by graphic design then check out the Rockport book:

Design Elements, Color Fundamentals:
A Graphic Style Manual for Understanding How Color Affects Design

by

Aaris Sherin

Color is an integral part of any design solution. Design Elements, Color Fundamentals is an essential resource for designers who want to create memorable design and successfully communicate with their audience. It is the second book in Rockport's Design Elements series, which focuses on the core elements of design.

With this book, designers will:

• Learn how to effectively communicate with color and integrate color with type and image to affect meaning and create order
• See how known pairings and selection methods can be used in real-world projects
• Explore hundreds of visual examples, illustrating how effective color combinations can be applied to any project, across media, and in diverse, cultural, and geographic situations
• Realize the basic tenets of color theory as it is broken down into clear and actionable directives
• Uncover tips and techniques for using color in client-based design work

Discover the basic rules for working with color as well as when it's OK to break the rules with
Design Elements, Color Fundamentals!

Aaris Sherin is a New York based writer, educator and designer. She is author of the book SustainAble and is founder of Fit to Thrive a consulting company that is dedicated to addressing complex design-related issues can occur across media and disciplines.